Managing Ethics and Compliance Risks

Managing ethics and compliance risks is essential for quite a few different reasons in the business world. First, you want to create a safe, inclusive environment where your employees feel comfortable and protected. You also want to reduce the risks that can come from ethical violations. Externally, an ethical and compliant organization is also going to be seen in a more favorable light than one surrounded by controversy.

The following are some ways to manage general ethics and compliance risks in a modern business environment.

Utilize the Right Tools and Technology

Having the right tools and technology in place is an essential component to manage compliance risks throughout an organization.

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Expense management software is just one example. With comprehensive expense management software, it’s much easier not only to maintain a sense of control in terms of employee spending but also to ensure compliance and put real-time checks into place.

The same can be said not just for expense management but in other areas of an organization.

If there is an ethical or non-compliance concern, having the right tools and technology can also make it much easier to spot it early on before it becomes a much bigger problem.

It’s important to do a full and honest assessment. Once you’ve considered your own organization, think about what the most common risks are in your industry.

Where are the areas that problems are most likely to exist based on patterns you’ve seen in your own organization and on a broader level?

On an even broader level than just looking at your industry, there are corporate and ethical problems that many companies face regardless of their industry.

Antitrust and unfair selling practices, bribes, conflicts of interest, and financial issues and fiduciary trust are among the biggest areas of concern across all industries.

Make Compliance Risk Management Part of Your Culture

If you want to reduce the likelihood of ethical concerns and noncompliance, you will need to work on cultivating a culture of compliance. Start with your code of conduct that outlines how you expect employees to behave and conduct themselves.

A code of conduct should also integrate company values.

The code of conduct needs to highlight not only expectations but also the repercussions for not meeting those expectations. A code of conduct needs to be reviewed regularly to ensure it’s still a good fit for your organization’s needs, and it needs to be marketed to employees, so they’re aware of what it says and how it pertains to them.

Along with highlighting consequences for noncompliance, it’s important that your organization also recognizes those employees who ensure their behavioral regularly reflects what’s outlined in the code of conduct.